{"product_id":"on-muscle-the-stuff-that-moves-us-and-why-it-matters","title":"On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters","description":"\u003ch1\u003eOn Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters\u003c\/h1\u003eBonnie Tsui\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Algonquin Books\u003cbr\u003eApril 1 2026\u003cbr\u003eEAN: 9781643757308\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 164375730X\u003cbr\u003eSynopsis: \u003cb\u003eFrom the bestselling author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhy We Swim\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e comes a mind-expanding exploration of muscle that will change the way you think about what moves us through the world.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Remarkable ... A singular book about the true meanings of strength and flexibility, about our ability to define who we are and who we might be.\" \u003cbr\u003e --Ed Yong, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of\u003ci\u003e An Immense World\u003c\/i\u003e and\u003ci\u003e I Contain Multitudes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eOn Muscle\u003c\/i\u003e, Bonnie Tsui brings her signature blend of science, culture, immersive reporting, and personal narrative to examine not just what muscles are but what they mean to us. Cardiac, smooth, skeletal--these three different types of muscle in our bodies make our hearts beat; push food through our intestines, blood through our vessels, babies out the uterus; attach to our bones and allow for motion. Tsui also traces how muscles have defined beauty--and how they have distorted it--through the ages, and how they play an essential role in our physical and mental health. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Tsui introduces us to the first female weightlifter to pick up the famed Scottish Dinnie Stones, then takes us on a 50-mile run through the Nevada desert that follows the path of escape from a Native boarding school--and gives the concept of endurance new meaning. She travels to Oslo, where cutting-edge research reveals how muscles help us bounce back after injury and illness, an important aspect of longevity. She jumps into the action with a historic Double Dutch club in Washington, D.C., to explain anew what Charles Darwin meant by the brain-body connection. Woven throughout are stories of Tsui's childhood with her Chinese immigrant artist dad--a black belt in karate--who schools her from a young age in a kind of quirky, in-house Muscle Academy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eOn Muscle \u003c\/i\u003eshows us the poetry in the physical, and the surprising ways muscle can reveal what we're capable of.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"27th Letter Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67391089180717,"sku":"20932","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0673\/3588\/0749\/files\/original_2b4884aa-0ab8-4f6c-872f-ece4309db220.jpg?v=1787351697","url":"https:\/\/27thletterbooks.com\/products\/on-muscle-the-stuff-that-moves-us-and-why-it-matters","provider":"27th Letter Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}